Guides

Panic button on your phone

Updated 11 August 2026

The phone your child already carries can become a panic button without buying anything else. Here is what it takes, which permissions matter, and how to test it before you need it.

Why the phone rather than a separate device

A smartwatch or GPS tracker needs its own SIM, its own charging and its own monthly fee. And above all, the child has to remember to wear it. The phone is already on them and already charged, which makes it the most reliable base for a panic button. The full comparison of the three options.

Four steps

1. Sign up as a parent. Email only, no password. Your family gets a unique 6-character code.
2. Invite your child. Send the invitation. They tap the link or type the code.
3. Grant the permissions. Location and camera. Without them the button still raises the alarm, but with no location and no photos.
4. Put the icon on the home screen. Install guide for Android and iPhone.

If the child is on a supervised account, Google Family Link locks those permissions and needs its own setup: the Family Link guide, step by step.

What goes out the moment it is pressed

The alarm fires first — siren, vibration and a flashing red screen on every parent device at once. Immediately after, in the background, the evidence follows:

• GPS coordinates with accuracy and a ready map link.
• One photo from the rear camera and one from the front.
• Battery percentage and whether it is charging.
• Connection type and public IP.

The order matters: if the camera or GPS is slow, the alarm has already gone out. The same evidence is emailed too, because email is the one route that works on every device.

Test it before you need it

Run one test with your child in the middle of the day, with your own phones next to you. You get to see whether the siren arrived, whether the location was right and whether the photos were taken — and the child understands what will happen when they press it for real. A button nobody has ever tested is not a safety button, it is an icon.

Tell your child you will not be angry

This is the most important step and the most often skipped. If a child is afraid of pressing it by mistake, they will not press it when they should either. Say plainly that a false alarm has no consequences.

Its limits

• On a dead battery or with no signal, nothing goes out. No product solves that.
• It does not connect to the police. It alerts parents, who then call 100 or 112 if needed. The state alternatives are in panic button in Greece.
• It is not a tracking tool. It sends location only at the moment the button is pressed.